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We own a house in New England built in the 40's. WE were told that the floor tiles installed in the basement are asbestos tile. We do not have central air (nor do we have forced air heat, we have radiators for heat, and use window units during the summer), and are thinking of installing central air, but the air intake would be in the basement. Should we be worried about asbestos from the tile, getting into the air intake and getting into the living areas of the house? The tile in the floor in the basements looks in good shape. Thanks.
The air intake should be from floor registers in the air conditioned floors. Be that as it may, the floor tiles are not really all that hazardous. If they are in good shape, why not seal them with an epoxy floor paint? I think you can put down a latex primer them the epoxy. It they are old and chipped and coming up, flood the floor with water, scrape the tiles up with a 5 foot handled floor scraper and shovel them into drum liners and off to the dump. Finish with sheet vinyl or floor paint.
We own a house in New England built in the 40's. WE were told that the floor tiles installed in the basement are asbestos tile. We do not have central air (nor do we have forced air heat, we have radiators for heat, and use window units during the summer), and are thinking of installing central air, but the air intake would be in the basement. Should we be worried about asbestos from the tile, getting into the air intake and getting into the living areas of the house? The tile in the floor in the basements looks in good shape. Thanks.
Nervous in New England.
Just put a double seal clear coat on the basement tiles to seal them and forget them. Asbestos is harmless unless you disturb it.
Wilson is correct, for a forced air furnace to work correctly, make up air needs to come from the areas that the unit delivers to. Typically wall inlets a few inches above the floor. The tiles are not an issue unless they are damaged and get a lot of traffic. If you are concerned, seal off the area, wear dust masks, wet them down, and remove them. Your local landfill should be able to take them. Most do. Floor tiles are typically what is known as non friable asbestos. ( not easily damaged) friable asbestos takes much more precautions and may require they be taken to a designated land fill. I have dealt with both.
Contact your local County environmental division, they can be a great help to get this taken care of, then the issue is gone forever.
Sorry guys, my wife informs me some of the tiles are chipped and cracked, as would be expected from a 60 year old house. Also, I thought my wife said air return, but she meant ductwork in the basement (not an air return). Does this change the analysis? Thanks all.
The OP does not have a "forced air" system so the home was never designed nor expected to have a central air conditioning (requiring forced air) system, hence the problem.
I think one has to look at what one has to work with, what one can do, and what one needs to do. In New England (been there, done that) heat will be the major priority with AC a distant 2nd (like use AC from mid June to early Sept at the most) thus one may well have to "cobble" an AC system together and it might not be the most efficient AC system. I do say just change the intake filter often.
When I was having my first house built in SC (and moving here from New England) the builder took me aside and politely said, I was to concerned with heating the house and I best concern myself with cooling it...sound advice...LOL
You already live with them. Mastic the duct connections and you will not have them pulling basement air into the system. You can also just cover the existing tiles with new tile if there is worry. IMO, Asbestos is an overblown issue in a house. I am not saying it isn't a potential hazard, but the real health issues are from people working in factories and shops that used asbestos products in manufacturing for years and years.
Of course every situation is different, but my parents ranch house built in the 1950's, has what is very likely asbestos tile in the basement, with a forced air furnace (central air was only installed in the '90's).
My parents are in their 80's now, after having lived in the house for 56 years, and while they do have some health probelms - lung cancer, or asbestosis, is not an issue for either one of them.
some of their tiles have chipped/cracked over the years, but even so - its the dust containing asbestos that is really an issue. The tiles the asbestos is bound tightly and they're just not going to break into small enough/fine enough particles to be an inhalation hazard.
All the houses in my parents neighborhood had the same tile, a lot of neighbors have removed them, themselves - and a lot have covered them over. Most people have lived in the houses for essentially a lifetime, all have forced air furnances - and there is no cancer cluster or any other high incidence of lung diseases.
Asbestos is not great stuff, but you can live with it as long as you're relatively careful.
Zero to worry about. Fibers in asbestos tiles/vinyl sheet flooring are amongst the most "locked in" of all asbestos containing materials. Even if you ripped one in half in front of your face the chances of fibers being released are minimal. The most worrisome forms of asbestos come via plaster/textured ceilings/pipe insulation/ceiling tiles/drywall mud/attic insulation, and only if you are disturbing it, and even then if it was a one-off situation where you unknowingly disturbed it during a renovation on your own house the chances of it impacting your health are very minimal (as in, unless you are already genetically susceptible to lung cancer or a heavy smoker). Most cases of asbestosis, mesothelioma or lung cancer caused by asbestos are in workers who were breathing friable (ie, dust form) asbestos every day for decades, and/or family members who were impacted when these workers carried the particles home on clothing daily for long periods of time. Many of these people were also heavy smokers, which has a synergistic effect.
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